Management, Billing, Mobile Forms & More

Striven for Field Services (www.striven.com,  862/208-2220) is a cloud based fully integrated business management software suite. It supplies a variety of features encompassing drag-and-drop scheduling and skills-matched dispatch on a color-coded calendar, automatic scheduling of recurring jobs, work order management, time tracking, service metrics, and reporting and analytics, accounting, customer and vendor portals, CRM and marketing tools. In addition, it offers full financial management with a range of accounting features as well as complete inventory control for both materials and equipment.   

Accessible from any mobile device, users can track billable hours, travel time, and breaks, upload photos directly to a corresponding job, and utilize live chat to communicate about work orders or requests with field employees or customers.

A flexible billing structure enables customized price lists and takes into account multiple sales tax types.

Job estimates, upon acceptance (including by e-signature from a customer in the field), can be turned into jobs within the software. The customer portal allows customers to approve contracts online, see work history and job status, pay invoices, submit tasks, and receive and share messages and documents in real time. When a job is completed, the contractor can track customer satisfaction through surveys.

The vendor portal enables a user to see vendor transactions sortable by customizable criteria, send purchase order requests, assign tasks to vendors. It also allows vendors to submit bills directly and view work history.

CRM capabilities include the ability to track a sales opportunity from prospect to close and trigger automatic emails, monthly statements, and reminders customized for each opportunity. Users can also track sales revenue from customers by month, year, or custom period.

The dashboard can display, among other things, service metrics (KPIs) such as work history, job completion times, and technician stats.

Striven integrates with Google, Microsoft, Zapier, Amazon, and other solutions and has a public list of open APIs.

Pricing: by user count and monthly hosting.

Flashtract construction billing software (www.flashtract.com, 866/777-1540) is a cloud based billing solution for commercial construction, available thru either a general contractor plan (Flash Prime) or sub-contractor plan (Flash Specialty). Built specifically for the construction industry, Flashtract is designed to track, manage, and expedite payment applications, change orders, lien wavers, compliance requirements, and other documents.

Both products can automatically generate AIA-style or custom company-specific pay apps and lien release documents, and other supporting material such as supplier affidavits. 

For each project, Flashtract calculates data such as retainage, previous work, and totals to date. You can also download, print, or electronically send generated billing documents for a physical signature or e-sign.

Flashtract provides support, onboarding, demos and training for their software on both plans. The software features cloud storage that keeps all your documents in Flashtract. Both offerings include a project overview dashboard, with itemized costs, percentages of completion, and other project information.

The subcontractor offering, Flash Specialty, allows subcontractors to invoice GC for during a particular billing period, and easily see if they have filed the correct compliance documents. Flash Specialty can be used to communicate billing information with all general contractors, including those who do not use Flash Prime. 

The general contractor software, Flash Prime, starts with a 30-minute “kickoff” call to configure Flashtract for that contractor’s particular workflow. After this, the project owners will know how to pre-define subcontract terms such as contract amount and retainage and how to select the customizable required billing documents. Then all the GC does is send out subcontractor invites. After that, Flashtract reaches out on the GC’s behalf to train and onboard the subs.

Flash Prime integrates with popular accounting, ERP, and project management solutions to bring in job and commitment information and send back payable records. Flash Prime allows GC to track compliance and second-tier information and documents from their subs.

Pricing: Flash Specialty—cost per user for unlimited pay app submissions; Flash Prime—payment model based on the number of yearly pay app approvals.

Device Magic (www.devicemagic.com, 855/257-9650) is a mobile forms software and data collection app that enables a user to create, store, and send customizable mobile forms for safety reporting, inspections, preventive maintenance, and other business needs. Users can re-create existing forms or, utilizing the integrated drag-and-drop form builder, build new ones from scratch. Forms can be submitted via a web browser or, using an iOS or Android supported device, through the mobile forms app. Once uploaded, a form can be delivered to a number of destinations, including email, SMS, and many direct data integrations. When no internet connection is available, the forms can be completed and submitted offline and will sync automatically once a connection resumes.

Pricing: annual or monthly fee, free 14-day trial.  

Eagle Eye Tracking Software (www.eagleeyetracking.com, 855/338-7225) is a paperless web-based fleet and mobile workforce management platform for wheel based service industries that allows users to create work orders for technicians and build  schedules for them, with audible driver instructions to the job site, including drag-and-drop features for adjusting routes and changing job schedules on the fly.    

The integrated GPS-empowered reporting capabilities enable auto-tracking of route and job time performance with the ability to locate technicians in real time. Monthly pricing fees are determined by number of vehicles enrolled and the features desired. Free 90-day trial available, without GPS functionalities.

Patti Feldman writes articles and web content for trade magazines and manufacturers of building products. She can be reached at [email protected].